Clinton district takes a hard look in the mirror

What are your thoughts on the Clinton Central School District? That's one of the questions the district has hired a consultant to ask everyone from teachers and community members to parents and students, to create a long-term comprehensive plan.

That's one of the questions the district has hired a consultant to ask everyone from teachers and community members to parents and students, to create a long-term comprehensive plan.

"We want to do what's best for the kids today, tomorrow and 10 years from now, and in order to do that, we have to have a plan," said district Superintendent Matthew Reilly.

The Clinton Central School District Foundation donated $10,000 to fund Dr. Kevin S. Baughman & Associates as consultants in creating a strategic plan.

Baughman, a former superintendent and current professor of Educational Leadership at the College of Saint Rose, is in the process of interviewing stakeholders and collecting data.

"We went with outside consultants for reasons of objectivity," Reilly said.

Baughman is meeting with teachers, students, parents, Clinton's community leaders, members of law enforcement, clergy members, representatives from Hamilton College and even the media, including the O-D, to get ideas of what the district currently is doing, what it does well and what could be improved.

Districts are not required to do long-range planning, Baughman said. "Those that do decide to are courageous."

The primary focus is on instruction, but the analysis also will include looking at the website and interaction with the community, he said. "You can't look at any one thing because this is a complex organization."

Some of the interviews also will take place through online surveys.

Though there's no set timeline, Baughman said the target is to provide the district Board of Education and superintendent with a draft of the strategic plan by the end of the year.

"We're incredibly excited about it," Reilly said. "This is a hard look in the mirror. The process itself is incredibly valuable… hearing the voices, giving people a voice, and the commitment is what's going to make this successful."